TRENTON — Returning to the scene of a former crime proved to be a mistake for three area men.

About 5 p.m. last Sunday an employee at CVS/pharmacy, 3575 West Road, recognized a man who had just stolen a television set as the same man who had taken one about a week earlier. The employee followed the man out to the parking lot and watched as he got into the passenger seat of a damaged black Chevrolet S-10 — which she also recognized from a week earlier — and headed west on West Road.

Trenton police then alerted Woodhaven officers about the getaway and provided a description; Woodhaven police stopped the truck shortly afterward near West and I-75.

All three men inside the truck were arrested. They included Raymond Allen Elmore, 50, of Lincoln Park; Christopher Glenn Mayville, 30, of Southgate; and a 37-year-old Lincoln Park man. Elmore, who took the TV, and Mayville, who drove the truck, had warrants outstanding from Lincoln Park. The third had warrants out of Southgate but was not charged in last Sunday’s theft.

The TV that had been stolen that day was found behind the passenger seat.

Trenton Detective Sgt. Mark Enright said Elmore went to Walgreens, 1700 West Road, in December and walked out with a pregnancy test kit. Elmore had failed to respond to a warrant for his arrest in that case, Enright said.

As to why the men would return so soon to the scene of a previous crime, Enright said, “People like these don’t have jobs. It’s an easy thing to walk into a store and walk out with something, then walk out. They’ve got nothing to lose.”

Elmore and Mayville were charged with retail fraud and arraigned Jan. 12 in 33rd District Court. A preliminary examination of the evidence against them is scheduled for Tuesday.